Counseling Lessons
by SlytherinLover99
Summary: Professor McGonagall requests four of Hogwarts's best students to provide counseling lessons for those still in pain after the war. Hermione, one of the chosen four, thinks it is impossible. Some people, like Malfoy, just CANNOT change. But with new friendships, realationships, and trust going around, Hermione just might be wrong. A Dramione fanfiction. Please read and review! :D
1. McGonagall's Request

**A/N: Hey people. This is a Dramione story. So it takes place after the war, but all the students are repeating their year again because they didn't exactly learn much when the Carrows were teaching. :P Anyways, please read and review!**

Chapter 1: McGonagall's Request

"But Professor, why us?" Hermione asked, gesturing to herself and the small group of students Professor McGonagall had summoned.

"Because the war has taken a large toll on all the students at Hogwarts, Miss Granger. Friends, families, lives-all taken away-just like that," Professor McGonagall replied firmly. "I have only asked the _best_ students from each house; in this case, Mr. Corner from Ravenclaw, Mr. Zabini from Slytherin, Miss Abbott from Hufflepuff and you, Miss Granger, from Gryffindor. As you may know, several students suffered much more than other during the war. Even though most have been able to put the past behind them and move on, several students still need help. All that I ask is that you conduct a class to help people get over the war help people that are in pain, and unite those from different classes. You will provide counseling lessons for the few students that I think need it," Professor McGonagall concluded.

"House Unity?!" Hermione shrieked. "Some people CANNOT change, Professor!" Hermione whined, a mental image of a sneering Malfoy popping into her head. "Just take a look at Malfoy!" Hermione argued.

"Miss Granger!" Professor McGonagall said, shocked at her words. "I suggest you FIND a way for this to work because this class will take place!" Professor McGonagall announced, before storming out of her office in a very un-McGonagall like way, clearly disturbed by the way her favorite student was acting.

"So…" Blaise Zabini, the selected student from Slytherin began. "Um…you guys want to meet later in the library to discuss this or something…?"

Hermione glared at him, still not over her prejudices against Slytherins. Before the war, Hermione didn't _hate_ Slytherins. She simply disliked them…but the war just made her absolutely loathe Slytherins! _"Slytherins are all the same. Cold-hearted, vicious people."_ Hermione thought to herself, remembering how almost none of the Slytherins fought in the war. She continued glaring at Zabini till he snapped.

"Okay, fine Granger! Glare at me all you want, but this is not going to work until YOU get rid of your OWN prejudices and come and help us," Zabini growled. He turned around and began talking to Hannah and Michael. Hermione felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach and identified it as guilt.

"_He's right," _Hermione realized, with an annoyed feeling. She wasn't used to being proved wrong. _"Well, I suppose that why McGonagall picked him to represent to Slytherin. He amazingly IS actually determined to get this to work."_ Hermione thought. She sighed and thought again,_ "Now put away your bloody damn pride and apologize to him. NOW, Hermione,"_ she thought. Hermione turned to face Zabini.

"I'm sorry. I was being a stupid bitch," Hermione suddenly blurted out, not meeting Zabini's gaze. _"Just great. You made a total fool of yourself, you idiot!"_ Hermione mentally scolded herself. She slowly lifted her head up to see his face and saw him smirking with an eyebrow raised.

"What's that?" he said. "An apology from the know-it-all Granger?" Zabini teased, a smile tugging on the ends of his mouth. Hermione glared at him, but let it slide. She had already caused enough trouble for today. She quickly joined into their conversation.

"I think we should use the abandoned potions classroom by the Room of Requirements…" Hannah said thoughtfully.

"The first class can work on trust," Hermione started. "And then-"

"How exactly do we presume we do that?" Zabini interrupted.

"Um…I'm not quite sure how-" Hermione started before getting interrupted again.

"I think we should do this," Zabini said, pointing to a schedule he already made. Hermione stared at him wide-eyed.

"You did all that while we were talking!?" Hermione said bewildered.

"Yeah," Zabini said casually, smirking at Hermione's shocked face. He looked at his watch before quickly saying, "Aw, crap! Late for quidditch practice!" and running to the door. "See you lot tomorrow!" he called out over his shoulder before exiting the room. Hannah and Michael left quickly after as well. Hermione, though, stared at the spot where Zabini had been standing seconds ago before thinking to herself, _"What happened to the Slytherins I thought I knew?"_

Hermione walked down the hallway, heading for the library during her free period. She had to finish her Herbology essay Professor Sprout had assigned. Her mind was filled with thoughts as she took her usual routine to the library. As she walking, she knocked into someone and fell on the floor. "Oh my! I'm so sorry!" Hermione apologized, not seeing who she had crashed into. She looked up into a sneering pale blonde's face.

"Watch where you're going next time, will you Mudblood?!" Malfoy sneered into her face. His hair was messed up and his pale face had gotten paler. His breath had a strong scent of alcohol in it, Hermione noticed, as she got up, glaring at him as he strode away. _"His parents both had their trial to go to Azkaban today and they were sentenced to Azkaban for a few years,"_ Hermione remembered. It was front page news on the Daily Prophet today. Hermione felt slightly bad for Malfoy. His parents had changed in the end, but they were still put in Azkaban. _"Guess that explains the alcohol," _Hermione concluded. She cleared her mind and continued walking over to the library.

Hermione sat down at her usual table, the table closest to the window. The sun was setting outside, leaving the sky in a rainbow of oranges and yellow. Hermione sighed and began writing her essay, before getting interrupted by Ginny.

"Hermione!" Ginny squealed, excitement radiating off her body. "What's up? I heard that McGonagall wanted to talk to you. So what did she tell you? Anything about the Healer classes, yet?" Ginny rambled on, pausing for a second, before seeing Hermione's distraught face.

"Hermione…McGonagall gave you bad news, didn't she?" Ginny asked.

Hermione sighed before telling Ginny everything that had happened.

"Oh Merlin, Hermione! That's awful! Counseling students?!" Ginny exclaimed with a horrified expression on her face.

"Gee, Ginny! Thanks for those warm words of comfort!" Hermione said sarcastically.

Ginny rolled her eyes at Hermione's last remark. "Good luck, Mione," Ginny said before running after some of her other friends. Hermione sighed, packing up to go to bed.

"Granger!" a voice called out from behind Hermione the next day. She turned around to see Zabini running to catch up to her.

"Zabini," Hermione replied, giving him a curt nod and stopped for him to catch up. Zabini jogged up to catch up as they began to walk together to their classes.

"You put that over-sized brain of yours to work and got any ideas for the classes, yet?" Blaise asked.

"No,"

"Seriously?!"

"Yes!"

"What's got your knickers in a twist?"

"Excuse me?!"

"What's – got – you – all – pissed – today?" Zabini said slowly, as though he was talking to a two-year-old. "Let me guess… PMS…? I guess that explains the cranky mood…" Zabini muttered to himself.

Hermione fumed. "Well, I'll have you know-"

Zabini clamped his hand over her mouth and rolled his eyes. "You really are quite insufferable, aren't you?" Hermione glared daggers at him. He released his hold and Hermione stalked away, glaring at him, her face crimson. Zabini chuckled before waving and saying, "See ya later Granger!"

**A/N: I know there wasn't much of Draco in this chapter and a lot of Blaise, but that's cause I need Hermione and Blaise to become friends. :P Don't worry, this IS a Dramione story and Hermione and Draco WILL get together in the end. **


	2. A Letter to Hermione

**A/N: Hey people! Thanks for reading my last chapter! I had 38 views in two days! :D But if so many people read it, how come no one reviewed? I don't mean to be rude or anything, but reviews give me motivation to update faster. So PLEASE give me a few reviews at least. Thanks! See you at the bottom. **

_"The prick!"_ Hermione thought, walking to Potions. She sat down next to Harry and Ron, slamming her books on to the table and glared at the front of the classroom. Harry and Ron exchanged puzzled glances at each other, unaware of the cause of Hermione's mood. Potions, though, always put Hermione into a good mood, now that Professor Slughorn was teaching it. Professor Slughorn absolutely LOVED Hermione because of her brains. She _was _after all the "Brightest Witch of Her Age."

Professor Slughorn brought out a small cauldron of a dark blue potion to the front class.

"Can anyone identify this potion?" Professor Slughorn asked.

Obviously, Hermione's hand shot into the air. Harry and Ron rolled their eyes.

"Yes, Miss Granger?"

"It's a truth-telling potion, sir. Slip it into a person's food or drink and they will reveal their secrets to you. Though the quantity of the potion, will therefore result in how much they will answer."

"Excellent, Miss Granger. Ten points to Gryffindor. Right. So today we will be brewing this potion, class. And the person that brews this potion correctly will receive this," Professor Slughorn said, gesturing to a small vial in his hand. In it was a small bottle with the truth-telling potion in it.

"This contains enough to ask the person you gave the potion to three questions. Partner up and begin. You have a half hour." Professor Slughorn announced.

"So…" Harry started.

"I'll go be partners with Lavender," Ron said, leaving to go sit next to her. Lavender and Ron had been doing almost everything together recently, ever since they had started dating last week.

Hermione turned to face Harry. "Let's get started." After a half-hour, Hermione and Harry's potion was the best, seeing as Hermione did most of the work.

"Excellent!" Professor Slughorn complimented, giving them each a bottle of the dark blue potion.

Hermione walked into the Head dormitories and collapsed on to her favorite couch and pulled out a stack of homework from Transfiguration. She began to furiously scribble on the piece of parchment. She was almost done when she heard someone come into the common room.

"Hey Mich-" Hermione started but she suddenly distracted. He had just come out of the shower and was shirtless. His bronze hair was wet and matted to his face. Hermione quickly ducked her head down and continued writing, her face blushing furiously. Michael Corner was no joke. He was smart _and_ handsome at the same time. Half the girls at school had a crush on him, maybe including Hermione. He was literally the next Draco Malfoy. Hermione herself had admitted that Draco Malfoy was something of a looker; that is, before the war. The war had really messed him up. He had stopped taunting Harry and kept to himself. He didn't have much of a social life and had dropped of quidditch. His face had become paler and there were bags under his eyes from sleepless nights.

Michael had obviously not notice Hermione's embarrassed face because he just sat down next to her and looked over her shoulder at her Transfiguration essay. Hermione's mind on the other hand, was racing a hundred miles an hour.

"Transfiguration, huh?" Michael asked.

"Yeah," Hermione mumbled.

They both sat like that for a while, Michael looking over Hermione's shoulder while Hermione writing. Suddenly, Michael broke the silence.

"Oh, right! McGonagall told me to give this letter to you. One sec. Let me get it," Michael said, getting up and walking to his room. He came back with a letter and a t-shirt on him.

_"Thank you!"_ Hermione thought mentally. Sitting with a half-naked Michael Corner was driving her over the edge.

"Here," Michael said, handing her the letter.

Hermione read it slowly before promptly screaming. "MALFOY!"

"Hermione, this is for the best," McGonagall explained for the umpteenth time.

"No – it – is – not." Hermione said through gritted teeth. "I refuse."

"Miss Granger," Professor McGonagall said sternly. "He needs your help," she said softly.

"I can't help him, Professor," Hermione whispered. "In his eyes, I'll always be that Mudblood. The war didn't change him."

Professor McGonagall took Hermione's hand into her own and said, "You can do this."

McGonagall had extended the preparation time period for a month comparatively to one week. At least now, the four students had a little bit more time to prepare, but they still felt like it wasn't enough.

"Now, because I thought Malfoy couldn't change, I'm stuck helping him personally! Like I don't have enough problems already," Hermione moaned to Zabini, Hannah, and Michael at their next meeting.

Hannah and Michael gave her sympathetic faces, while Zabini straight out began to hysterically laugh.

"What are you laughing about?" Hermione said sharply at Zabini.

"You – are – stuck –with – Draco." Zabini said, in fits of laughter.

"Shut up."

"I pity Draco."

"Excuse me?! I'M the one you should be feeling sorry for!"

"I feel sorry with anyone stuck with you…" Zabini mumbled.

Hermione snorted. "Say's you."

Hannah and Michael watched the whole thing with confused expressions on their face.

"Um…can we get started?" Michael started.

"Sure!" Hermione said, smiling at Hannah and Michael and then glaring at Zabini. They all worked on their class courses together. Zabini quickly became friends with Michael and Hannah, who chatted like long lost friends. Hermione just gave Zabini the cold-shoulder. After a few hours, they all agreed they had done enough for one day and left. Hermione was just about to leave when Zabini called out to her.

"Granger…a word."

"Yeah?"

"We should put aside our own prejudices before teaching others to put aside their prejudices, right?"

"I suppose…"

"Friends, then?" Zabini said, stretching out his hand.

Hermione looked at him awestruck. HE wanted to be friends with HER?! "Sure, Zabini," she replied coolly.

"Blaise,"

"What?"

"My name is Blaise. Not Zabini," he repeated. "See you next week at the meeting, Hermione!" Blaise said, leaving the room.

_"Blaise…"_ Hermione thought. It sounded so weird coming out of her mouth…yet nice.

**A/N: Yah! Hermione and Blaise are friends now so now Draco can come in! If I get more than 10 reviews on both the chapters combined, I'll update the next chapter sooner. I have some fun coming up… Hehehe… till next time. **


	3. Hogsmeade Trip

**A/N: I AM SOOOOO SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE! Unfortunately, real life is being a bitch and interfering in my fanfiction life. :( Anyways, please read and I'll see ya at the bottom...**

Hogsmeade Trip

Hermione walked out of Defense against the Dark Arts class and sauntered off to the library. Again. Hermione was preparing extra hard for N.E.W.T.S. She needed top grades to take special Healer classes after she graduated out of Hogwarts. She took out a textbook and began to read. Shortly after settling down, Blaise sat down on the chair opposite to the seat where Hermione was sitting at her usual table. Her clutched the History of Magic book in one hand.

"Hey Hermione," Blaise greeted.

"Hello Blaise," Hermione replied. "Do you have a reason to join my study session?" Hermione questioned. Blaise NEVER came to the library. He usually spent his break times playing quidditch or hanging out with friends.

"Amazingly, yes. Do you mind helping me on my History homework?"

" Of course not," Hermione replied, surprised. Blaise was quite smart in class. Why did he need HER help?

"Thanks," Blaise said gratefully, pulling his chair next to him as Hermione began to lecture him.

After that, Blaise-toutering-sessions with Hermione became a part of their schedules. Everyday, Hermione would help Blaise on his homework and they would finish their work together. The two of them became rather close, sharing stories and learning more about each other. Blaise often spoke about Draco so Hermione would know a bit about him before she had to start personal training sessions with him.

"I really worry about Draco sometimes, you know?" Blaise said, writing his essay. "I mean, it's certainly not healthy just sitting around by yourself all day. He even quit the quidditch team! I seriously wonder how on Earth you're going to deal with him, Hermione," Blaise rambled on.

"Yep. A hopeless mission if you ask me," Hermione replied, reading.

Scratching of quills and flipping of pages continued for a while till Blaise broke the silence by asking Hermione for some help.

"Let's see..." Hermione said. "Oh, I know! So basically in 1432, this man," Hermione said, pointing to a man in the textbook, "found out the first cure for the Mad Witch Disease. Hermione rambled on about the Mad Witch Disease for a while till she realized Blaise wasn't paying attention.

"You didn't hear a thing I said, did you?" she asked, sighing.

Blaise still made no sign to indicate that he had heard her, staring off into space.

"Hello?!" Hermione asked. "Earth to Blaise! Earth to Blaise Zabini!" Hermione said frantically, flailing her hands in front of his face.

"Huh?" Blaise said. "Oh, right. Sorry. But I came up with a brilliant idea!"

"Which is?" Hermione prodded.

"Why don't you and I both take a few of our friends on a Hogsmeade trip. There's one this weekend. I'll bring Draco. Then maybe you guys can get to know each other a little bit better at least. Bring some of your Gryffindor buddies so Draco will get used to it and I'll bring some Slytherins. Inner-house cooperation, right?" Blaise concluded.

Hermione sat in silence for a while, thinking, before slowly replying, "You know what Blaise… that's not a half bad idea."

"I always knew how brilliantly amazing I was," Blaise said dramatically.

Hermione snorted. "Sure, but that defiantly doesn't give you the right to doze out on my lecture, stupid," she said, smacking him playfully on his head with the book she was reading.

Hermione stood anxiously near the entrance to the Great Hall with Blasie, waiting for her friends. They both had just told their friends they were just going to Hogsmeade. Neither had told that would be going together with their worst enemies.

A familiar mop of long red hair began heading towards Hermione. Hermione began to tense. What exactly would Ginny think about this?

"Hey Hermione," Ginny said casually, not realizing Blaise who was standing next to Hermione. Her gaze flickered to Blasie for a second and she turned back to face Hermione with shock on her face.

"Hermione, I need to talk to you for a sec," she said, dragging Hermione away so Blaise couldn't hear.

_"This is it, Hermione. Brace yourself for a whole lot of screaming,"_ Hermione thought.

"Hermione, who was that?" Ginny said slowly.

"Blaise Zabini"

"Is this… Blaise… coming with us to Hogsmeade?"

"Umm… yeah," Hermione confessed.

"Why didn't you tell me, Hermione!?" Ginny looked absolutely furious.

"Cause I knew you would react like this!"

"Do you see what I am wearing! I can't go to Hogsmeade with him looking like this!" Ginny shrieked, pointing at her pink tank and jeans in disgust.

"Huh?" Hermione said dumbly, clearly puzzled. This was not what she had been expecting Ginny to shriek about.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Have you seen him, Hermione?! He is SO sexy!"

Now Hermione rolled her eyes. Fine, Blaise was somewhat good-looking, fine VERY good-looking, but Hermione just saw him as a friend. Ginny ALWAYS took everything to the next level.

"I'll change and come back," Ginny said. As she was walking away, she stopped by Blaise and said, "Hey Blasie! My name is Ginny!" She smiled sweetly at him, the way most guys would die to see.

Obviously, the smile didn't affect him. "You mean Weaslette?" Blasie said, smirking.

"No. I mean Ginny," Ginny replied through clenched teeth.

"I don't know… I sort of like Weaslette better…"

Ginny gave him a death glare.

Blaise chuckled. "Okay then, _Ginny,"_Blaise said, emphasizing the "Ginny."

Ginny's scowl was replaced by a smile again, before darting off to the Gryffindor Tower. Hermione watched the whole scene in awe.

"I always knew I was the sexiest guy at school," Blaise said proudly.

"And I think your ego is seriously getting too big for your own good," Hermione replied, smacking his arm.

"Hermione!" Blaise whined. "You mortally offended me," he pouted.

Hermione burst out laughing, clutching her stomach, because she was laughing so hard. Just then Malfoy walked in, wearing a look of shock on his face, taking in the sight. It was quickly replaced by his trademark expressionless face again. He stood near Blaise and gave Hermione a glare, but didn't say anything. Slowly, everyone began to come. Hermione had invited Harry and Ginny (Ron was off on a date with Lavender). Blaise had invited Malfoy and Parkinson. The six stared awkwardly at each other before Hermione broke the silence by saying, "Three Broomsticks, Blaise?"

"Sure. Why not? Let's go, everyone," he replied, walking in the direction to the Three Broomsticks.

The walk there was even more awkward. No one spoke or looked at each other. It was very obvious no one was enjoying this...well, maybe except Ginny. Ginny had changed into a pretty t-shirt and a matching skirt. Now it looked like she was going on a date or something.

They all slipped into one table and no one spoke again. NO big surprise there.

"Hey Blaise, you wanna go to Honeydukes together?" Ginny asked, putting on a flirtatious smile.

Blaise smiled back. "Why not?" They both got up and left the table.

That only left Hermione, Parkinson, Harry and Malfoy. Suddenly, Malfoy got up and left. Hermione sighed. So far, Plan Talk-To-Malfoy was not working very well. She forced herself to get up and follow him. He had just left the Three Broomsticks before Hermione asked, "Where are you going?"

"Fuck off, Mudblood,"

Hermione flinched, but repeated herself. "Where are you going?"

"Go away,"

"Just tell me where you are going."

"Away,"

"Why?"

"Stop sticking your hideous nose into my business!I can go wherever I please!"

"I was just wondering, Malfoy! Geez! It's terribly rude you know, to just walk away like that..."

"Do you think I care, Mudblood?" he hissed venomously. "You fucking messed up my best friend's life!"

"Me?!" Hermione asked, incredulously. "I'm helping him! How am I messing Blaise up?!"

"Now he laughs and chats with a filthy little Mudblood like he's your friend or something!" Malfoy sneered.

"We ARE friends!" Hermione shouted, her temper rising. " But _you _wouldn't know that now, would you?! You don't care a damn about Blaise! You just spend the whole day locking yourself up form civilization! Blaise is always worrying about you! He tells me-"

"SHUT UP! You don't know anything about me or my fucking life!" Malfoy shouted out, a pained expression crossing his face.

_"He's right, Hermione. You don't," _she thought.

"Then let me," Hermione whispered, before turning away and heading back to the Three Broomsticks.

She had just walked in before she heard crying. She looked around to see Pansy crying while Harry was awkwardly patting her back, trying to help. Hermione stood at the door, stunned by the sight. Malfoy walked in moments later and he too stood next to Hermione, shock registered into anger in a matter of seconds.

"POTTER!" Malfoy roared. "How dare you hurt Pansy!? _Se_-"

"NO!" Pansy screeched, blocking Harry from Malfoy's curse. "He didn't do anything!"

Malfoy pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to calm himself. "Pansy, move aside,"

"He didn't do anything, Draco!" Pansy said fiercely.

Malfoy stared at the two of them. Right then, Blaise and Ginny walked in, laughing and holding hands.

"Come on, Pansy. We're leaving," Malfoy growled, grabbing Pansy's arm and dragging her out of the Three Broomsticks.

Blaise suddenly yanked his arm from Ginny. "I'm sorry, but I have to go," he said, running after then and ignoring Ginny's hurt expression.

Hermione rounded on Harry. "So, are you going to tell us what happened or what?"

**A/N: Sorry for the cliffie... couldn't help it. :P Did you like it? Yes? No? Any suggestions? So, what do you think will happen? Tell me in your review! :D I'll try to update more often...**


	4. The First Lesson

**A./N.: Hey people. First lesson today! See you down below...**

The First Lesson

Walking back to the Gryffindor tower, Hermione suddenly sighed. "That-was the most confusing story I have ever heard."

"I know!" Ginny commented. She turned around to face Harry. "Are you sure you aren't leaving out any really juicy details that you just think are really unimportant?" she questioned the questioned the raven-haired boy.

"No! Merlin, you two keep saying you're confused, but I'm going nuts over it!" Harry grumbled.

"Say it again,"Hermione said sharply.

"What?" Harry asked, stunned by her sudden request.

"Repeat what happened," she said soften this time.

Now Harry sighed. "Okay, so Ginny and Blaise left for their da-Honeydukes," he corrected himself, glancing at Ginny, who appeared not to have heard him, but had a pained expression on her face. "And then you and Malfoy left, so Parkinson and I began to talk a bit. I mean, we would have to do it sooner or later, so why not get used to it now, right? Then she suddenly starts bawling her head off!" Harry shouted exasperatedly. Hermione sent an apologetic shrug at him. She knew how awful Harry was at consoling girls, especially crying ones.

"And then?" Hermione prodded.

"That's about it. She was about to say something but then you guys came," Harry said.

"Wow," Ginny said. "I can see why you are confused."

"Well, I'm heading back to my dorm. Remember, tomorrow is the first counseling lesson!" Hermione said, heading back to Heads.

OOOOOOOOO

Hermione woke up early that next morning to prepare for their first class. She walked to Michael's room and knocked on the door. When no one opened the door, Hermione rolled her eyes and walked in. _So like Michael to sleep in on the day we have our first class, _she thought. As expected, she saw a figure hiding under the covers.

"Michael," Hermione whispered. When he didn't rouse, Hermione tried again, this time prodding him with her finger. "Michael!" she shouted now, shaking him with all her might. When he still didn't move, Hermione kicked his desk table in exasperation. "Merlin, you are SUCH a deep sleeper! Why do you have to sleep like a log?!" She suddenly went into the kitchen and conjured a bucket of ice water and dumped it on him.

"BLOODY HELL!" Micheal gasped in shock He then seemed to realize he was soaking wer and Hermione was holding a bucket. ,He seemed to fit the pieces together.

"HERMIONE GRANGER!" Michael shouted, glaring at her.

Hermione was laughing her head off.

"This is NOT a laughing matter!" he said, trying to be serious, but failing miserably. He bagan to laugh with Hermione.

"I'll get you later," Michael swore.

"Sure," Hermione replied sarcastically "Now we have to go," she said, dragging his hand, ignoring his futile plead for more sleep.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

"Alright, shall we open up the class?" Hannah questioned.

"Yes," Hermione replied nervously. Her last encounter with Malfoy hadn't gone very well.

A blur of noise and colors covered the room as the students came inside the classroom and sat down.

"Alright, everyone. So today we will be-" Hermione started meekly, but stopped as she realized that no one was listening. They were all too busy talking among themselves.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Blaise roared, noticing the lack of attention they were giving Hermione. Everyone shut up in at instant. "That's better," Blaise said, giving Hermione a curt nod to continue.

"Um...yeah...thanks Blaise...so, today we will be starting a project," Hermione said.

Several groans went around the room.

Blaise growled, about to say something rude again, but Hannah cut him off.

"Since this is an inter-house cooperation class as well, you will be partnered with someone _outside_ your house," she said sternly. "You will learn as much as you can about the other person and hopefully learn to be civil with one another, maybe even friends."

Someone snorted in the back.

"Shut it," Michael growled, annoyed by the amount of authority they were getting.

"So, go pick your partners," Hannah announced.

No one moved.

"Merlin, move your freaking arses of the chair and get a partner!" Blaise snapped.

Hermione sighed and watched everyone get a partner. She walked towards a struggling Harry, "Hey," Hermione said gently, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Found a partner?"

"I'm going to ask Parkinson. I want to find out what happened that day at Hogsmeade," Harry said determined, heading towards her.

Hermione smiled at his retreating figure. Now Hermione's problem-becoming partners with Draco Malfoy.

Malfoy was sitting idly at a desk, not attempting to find a partner.

_Easy Hermione. Just go and ask him to be your partner, _Hermione thought.

"Hey, Malfoy. Wanna be partners?" Hermione blurted.

Malfoy looked up to see the looming figure of Hermione.

"What do you think, Mudblood?" he sneered.

"Well, you don't have any choice," Hermione said logically.

Looking around, there was indeed on one who wasn't partnered. Harry and Pansy. Ginny and Blaise, obviously. Michael and Hannah. Neville and Luna, and many others around the room.

"Fine," Malfoy snapped. "Bloody fucking class anyways."

"Wonderful," Hermione commented sarcastically.

Right then, the clock struck and the class was dismissed.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Hermione sighed. She was sighing a lot these days, maybe a bit more to be healthy. Well, stalking Draco Malfoy was not a particularly easy task. So far, she had been stalking him for two weeks, right after the first counseling lesson. Malfoy had a very...organized schedule. He went to his classes and stuck around in the Slytherin dormitories for the rest of the day, occasionally bringing along a girl with him too. Merlin only knew what those whores and him did in there...nope, she was not going to start thinking down that track. She had enough to think about. Hermione had just caught up to him and was walking suspiciously close to him again like she had been doing for the last few weeks. To get herself to be civil to Malfoy and vice verse, she would have to get to know him better. She continued following him as he took a turn on a deserted corridor. Malfoy suddenly turned around and glared at her.

"What are you doing?!" he hissed.

"Doing what?" Hermione asked dumbly.

"Don't play that card on me. I know you've been stalking me, Granger,"

"As if. Well if a silly accusation is all you have to tell me, I best be on my way," Hermione scoffed, turning around and heading back. Maybe if she made the notion of her stalking him seem impossible, he would drop the thought. She continued walking, but heard no noise behind her, so she assumed he left. Just then, a hand roughly grabbed her wrist and shoved her against a wall. Hermione gaped at him in panic and shock.

"DON'T -YOU DARE-FOLLOW ME, you filthy little Mudblood," he growled fiercely. "EVER."

Hermione glared back at him, refusing to show weakness. Though the way his eyes were suddenly such a dark, stormy gray was frighting.

Malfoy suddenly shoved her away harshly, causing Hermione to fall. He rubbed his hands on his robes, disgusted. He gave her one last glare before turning away and striding down the corridor.

_What was that? _Hermione thought. But Hermione was too busy at the moment to pay much attention. Oh Merlin was Hermione late for Trasfiguration...

**A./N.: So did you like it? Yes? No? Tell me in a review! So if you haven't already noticed, the whole story has been in Hermione's POV so far. Does anyone want Draco POV too? Tell me in a review so I'll know please! :) If I get enough reviews that want a Draco POV, I can write Hermione and Draco alternating POVs. Tell me what you want the Draco POVs about and I'll try furfilling your request! :) Thanks! Love all of my readers! :D**


	5. Arguments

Arguments

Hermione rushed into Transfiguration, fifteen minutes late. She barged through the door and quickly walked in, grabbing a seat next to Ron and Harry. Just about the whole class stared at her, but Hermione didn't dare meet anyone's eyes, including Ron and Harry's. She could almost feel their eyes boring into her side, obviously wanting to question her on why the Gryffindor goody-two-shoes was late to class, expecially Transfiguration. And her appearance wasn't at the best either. Her hair was falling out of the bun she had put on this morning and her clothes were all rumpled. She could clearly see how an outsider might perceive what just happened.

"Alright. So begin practicing the spell now. Remember, a very sharp flick," Professor McGonnagal announced as the class set off to work practicing on their new spell they just learned.

Turning to face Hermione real quick, Ron gave her a questioning glance. Hermione looked away. Why? She wasn't sure, but for some reason, she didn't want to tell Harry and Ron about her encounter with Malfoy. She figured they would probably beat him to pulp, and that wouldn't leave a very good impression of her on Malfoy, not like their already was much of one.

"Miccus Tecupes," Hermione mumbled, and with a lazy flick of her wand, she turned her family of mice into a tea set. She had already read the section that taught this spell in the textbook. She spent the next fifteen minutes of class pondering about the strange incident that had happened only about an hour or so ago. What exactly_ had_ happened? Malfoy realized she was stalking him and had gotten mad. Very mad, resulting in him trapping her against the wall and then shoving her down. Hermione groaned. Now she had to fix this blunder, fix all their arguments in the past, get to know him, and have some sort of civil relationship with him. This assignment was not off to a good start…

OOOOO

Draco strode into the bathroom and began washing his hands. Furiously. He scrubbed for a full ten minutes till his hands were red and raw. He spat in disgust. She could not believe himself. He had touched a mudblood. And not just any mudblood at that. Mudblood Granger, friends of the boy-who-wouldn't-fucking-die and the Weasel.

He inspected his hands once again, looking for the slightest sign of filth, before striding out of the bathroom again. Thank Salazar that he had a free period at the moment. This gave him a little while to think, seeing as his next class would be in a hour.

Okay, fine. Maybe he had gone a _bit _overboard with pushing her, but on the other hand, it was her own fault for lying to him. How think did she think he was not to realize earlier? Sure, he had realized before, but curiosity had gotten the better of him. He wanted to know exactly how long she was planning on following him. But then again, what was her motivation for doing all this? _She probably didn't want to fail the class. That's why, _Draco concluded in his mind. He closed his mind to that topic. He refused to let Granger's silly acts hurt his brain.

Draco walked into the Slytherin dorms, and plopped down onto a vacant chair in the common room. There were only a few people in the room, several first-years, a couple of fourth-year boys playing Exploding Snap, and… Pansy. Draco made his way towards her. He sat down beside her.

"Hey, Pans," he said, using his childhood name for her.

Pansy quickly slammed a book on the letter she was writing, not realizing that Draco was approaching her earlier.

"Oh, hey Draco," she said quickly, her face slowly turning red.

Draco looked at her suspiciously. "What's with the letter?"

"Nothing,"

"Really now?"

"Yep,"

"You won't mind if I read it then?" Draco asked, hand diving for the letter.

Pansy shrieked, grabbing it from him. "Don't," she hissed. She got up to leave to the girls' dormitories, but Draco's keen seeker skills grabbed it out of her hands before she could protest and quickly glanced over it. In a matter of seconds, his expression turned form surprised to mad.

"What the fuck is this, Pansy?" he asked through gritted teeth.

Pansy remained silent.

Draco glared at her before crumpling up the piece of paper into a ball and tossing it into the fire place. He stormed up to the boys' dormitories and slammed the door.

The letter was slowly burning up, almost illegible now, but if one stared closely enough, you could still make out "Dear Harry" written at the top of the page.

Tears that pricked at Pansy's eyes now steadily fell on to her lap. It seemd that she wasn't the only one broken beyond repair.

OOOOO

Hermione decided the best person to talk to was going to be Blaise. She _would _have gone to talk to Harry, Ron, or Ginny, but none of them were really quite interacting much anymore. Ron was _always_ off with Lavender. Ginny was usually with her year friends that were more like her, shoppy and sporty. Harry…well, Harry was different now. Hermione couldn't exactly pin point what was different, but ever since the war, he had been different. He had been more independent and lacked much social contact. He kept to himself. At first, Hermione thought he had just needed a little bit of alone time after all the stress and pressure he had been going through, but even after five months, he hadn't changed.

_Almost like Malfoy,_ Hermione realized. She quickly pushed that thought out of her head though. She would not go comparing Harry to that blonde git.

Hermione had basically memorized Blaise's schedule after hanging around with him so much and if she was correct, he should be at the quidditch pitch, probably practicing for the big upcoming Gryffindor versus Slytherin match.

Suddenly from behind her, a pair of strong arms grabbed her waist and covered her eyes, steering her off the pitch.

"What the—"Hermione shouted, surprised, wondering who her captor might be, even though she already had a good idea who it was.

Moments later, the hands released her and the scowling image of a sweaty Blaise in his quidditch uniform appeared in front of her.

"Godric, you reek like hell," Hermione commented, pinching her nose shut.

"Come to spy on us, have you?" Blaise scowled.

"What?"

"For the Gryffindors,"

"What are you—"

"Oh drop the charade, Hermione! Why else would _you_ come to the quidditch pitch? Hmm?" Blaise snapped.

"To talk to you," Hermione replied, rolling her eyes.

"Oh,"

Hermione snorted. "Yeah, oh," she said sarcastically. "Let me guess, bad practice?"

"Yeah," Blaise groaned. "At this rate, Gryffindor will win for sure."

Hermione sighed. "I would give you a hug right now to cheer you up a bit… but… let's just say you aren't at your best," she said, glancing at his sweaty figure.

Blaise scowled at her, before promptly sticking out his tongue, and heading into the Slytherin locker rooms to take a shower. "Be right back," he called out over his shoulder.

Starting at his retreating figure, Hermione burst into a fit of giggles. How immature could one get?

OOOOO

Draco sat down on his bed, running his fingers through his hair. He just didn't understand Pansy at the moment. Why on Earth would she write a letter to Pothead? Didn't she trust Blaise or him? Why?! Sure, recently Draco had been a lot more distant with everyone, but he still cared for the few people he loved in this world, like his mum, Blaise, and Pansy. He wanted to-no- _needed_ to protect them. Pansy was like his sister, and he was going to find out what happened with her.

Draco sighed, pulling out his sketch pad. Maybe a drawing of a happy Pansy from a long time ago would take his mind of things.

OOOOO

Blaise walked out of the showers, hair still wet, dripping down the side of his face. Hermione's breath hickered in her throat at the sight of him. At times like this, Hermione could understand why Ginny could fall for him so easily. He could be rather… breath-taking at times.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Blaise asked coolly.

"Umm…," Hermione started, suddenly feeling akward about the whole conversation.

"Here. Come on," Blaise said, grabbing her hand and dragging her, sensing her awkwardness.

"Where are—"

"Shh. Follow me," he led her to a small little bench near the top of a nearby hill the overlooked the entire quidditch field and lake. The area was so scerene and peaceful. Hermione couldn't believe she had never noticed it before.

"It's… amazing," Hermione said, enchanted by the sight before her.

"It's something isn't it?" Blaise agreed. "So, tell me what's wrong,"

Hermione sighed. "Well, you see, it's sort of complicated and stupid too I guess…" she mumbled, twirling a stray piece of hair that had fallen from behind her ear.

"Nothing of that now," Blaise said sternly, grabbing both her hands, making Hermione turn to face him. "I want to help you, Hermione. You're my friend. Besides, you're the smartest witch of our age, so it _can't_ be anything stupid."

Warmth radiated out of Blaise's bright blue eyes. Hermione's gaze turned downward and realized her was still holding her hands. It was comforting to know that someone was there to "lend a hand" but it just wasn't right.

She slowly wiggled her hands out of his tight grip and placed them back gingerly on her lap.

"Oh! Um… sorry about that," Blaise apologized at once, sensing her growing discomfort. "I didn't mean—"

"It's okay, Blaise. I know," Hermione mumbled, turning back to look at the glowing sunset. Awkward silence rained between the two of them.

After what seemed like forever, Hermione looked back at him. "What happened to Ginny?" Hermione asked.

"Huh?" Blaise replied, startled by her sudden question. "Nothing really. Why?"

"Nothing?! Why?!" Hermione repeated exasperated. "She _likes_ you, Blaise! And you really hurt her a few weeks ago when you left her after the Hogsmeade trip! You just left, Blaise!"

"You know why!"

"Yes, but still!"

"It's just a crush, Hermione. It'll fade away after awhile," Blaise sighed.

Hermione glared at him. "Maybe, Blaise. Maybe. But right now, she is lusting after you and it breaks my heart to see her like this. To see her upset over you."

"I don't even know her. I can't date her if that's what you want me to do. I already like someone else," Blaise whispered.

"Fine," Hermione spat. "But tell her now, before the damage you've done is unfixable. I don't want her to get hurt. Like me," Hermione whispered, getting up and walking away, leaving Blaise on his own.

**A./N.: Review please? :)**


	6. Truce

**A.N.: Hey guys! Sorry, I got really caught up in my own life that I didn't have any time to update. See, I write the story out in a notebook and then I type it up, but I got almost no time to use the laptop recently. Since I didn't update in quite a while, I decided to make this chapter longer than my others so far. Well, anyways, enjoy! :)**

Truce

Draco was almost done with his sketch when Blaise stormed in. Mad. Definitely mad. Draco watched him curiously with an eyebrow raised as he sat on his bed and glared at the wall. Blaise usually never let his emotions get the better of him, but today, it seemed to have. Draco knew that he should leave him alone, but that curious streak in him was just not settling down.

"Bad practice?" Draco asked casually.

"That's a bit of the problem, yes," Blaise snapped.

"What's the rest of the problem?" Draco prodded, taking advantage of the current situation Blaise was in.

"Hermione," Blaise growled, before kicking his dresser.

Draco smirked at the sound of that. As much as he should be comforting his best friend, he just couldn't find the heart to after everything he had said to Blaise about Granger.

"Granger being a bitch, eh?" Draco joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Not as much as you are," Blaise sneered.

Draco gaped at him. Since when had Blaise decided he was acting like a bitch? And Blaise defended Granger- over him!

Blaise suddenly mumbled something under his breath before walking out, leaving Draco more confused than ever.

XXXXXX

Sitting in her room in the Heads dorms, Hermione chocked back sobs, clutching her pillow harder. She couldn't believe she had just shouted at Blaise. She had gotten really close to Blaise in the last few months, since all her other friends had been so busy recently. She begrudgingly admitted that recently, Blaise had become one of her best friends and she cared about him. A lot. Maybe even more than she wanted to admit.

But she cared about Ginny too. Ginny was like her sister. And she _had_ known Ginny for much longer.

Hermione banged her head against her pillow again and groaned. Blaise or Ginny. Blaise or Ginny.

XXXXX

Granger and Blaise had both been annoying Draco terribly lately. Blaise had been sulking _way_ too much for his cheerful demeanor. And he had noticed Granger wasn't faring much better. And they didn't talk with each other unless it was absolutely necessary. Strange.

Amazingly, Draco thought he'd feel better once Blaise and Granger stopped associating with each other, but Draco couldn't stand an upset Blaise. He, himself, had no right to say so seeing as he sulked around all day himself, though. But Blaise was so lifeless, it tore Draco apart. He wondered if Blaise felt that way around him. Maybe. And the fact that Blaise wouldn't tell him anything was terribly annoying.

Draco realized that he had to take matters into his own hands. Even if he had to ask Mudblood Granger.

"Granger."

"Huh?" Granger said, turning around to see a familiar ferret-faced blonde staring right back at her. "Anything you need, Malfoy?" she asked cautiously.

_Think, Draco. Think. Need an excuse. Counseling lessons!_ he thought.

"Um…shouldn't we be working on that stupid project? It's almost been a month now, right?" Draco blurted out.

_Idi__ot! You screwed that up! _Draco internally screamed at himself.

Granger's eyebrows rose and her awe-struck expression would have been hilarious if it weren't for the fact that he really needed her to think he was serious.

"You want to meet me and _talk_?!" she questioned incredulously.

"Of course not, Granger. We can read together," he said, his voice dripping in sarcasam.

Granger narrowed her eyes. "Why are you doing this, Malfoy?"

"As much as I hate you and this stupid project, I want a good grade, Granger," he replied. "Don't get the wrong impression that I would willingly _enjoy_ spending time with you," he sneered.

Granger wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Of course not, Malfoy," she said dryly. "Of course not."

XXXXX

Hermione adamantly twisted one of her curls along her finger as she began to think. Getting side-stepped by Malfoy in the middle of a hallway was not the most usual way to start her day. And him _wanting _to meet _her_? Definitely not normal. Something was going on.

Sighing, she decided to send a letter to him. Tomorrow evening would work well for her.

XXXXX

Draco walked to the bench near the lake as Granger had told him. As he did, he began to feel nervous.

_You're a pureblood, Draco. Can't __get nervous over scum, _he thought.

As he approached, he already saw her sitting down, anxiousness clear on her face. He smirked at that. An awkward conversation was going to turn up. He sat a few feet away from her on the bench.

"Granger," he said, giving her a curt nod.

"Malfoy," she replied stiffly.

Draco was a smart kid, he always knew he was. He realized this conversation was going to be a boring one at the way she responded and acted. So, he decided to take a chance and spice up the conversation a bit.

"So… what do we have to do for the project, Mudblood?" Draco asked.

"WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM, MALFOY!?" Hermione screeched. The shrill of her voice made Draco flinch, even though he knew this was coming since he was the one who had baited her. "I cannot work with you messing around with me all the time! _You _wanted to work and now you're back to your old self—insulting me again!" Hermione stood up, her face red with fury at him.

Draco couldn't help but smirk. He loved the way she could get pissed so easily. Arguments with Granger were fun.

Hermione gaped at him. "That's your response! A smirk!?" she asked, now approaching the borderline of hysterical. "What is with you, Slytherins?! Auggh! I _thought _you Slytherins were different after I got to know Blaise, but _clearly_ I was wrong!"

Draco stood up, angry. What was with this pathetic-excuse-for-a-witch?! No one ever insulted Blaise. Ever.

"If that's what you think, I have no idea why they call you the brightest-witch-of-our-age, Mudblood."

"Excuse me?! Why does everything have to do with my blood? You're just an egoistic, snobby pure-blood!"

"Oh that's rich, coming from you! You call me off for calling you a mudblood but then you call me a pure-blood! You Gryffindors are just as stuck-up and prejudiced as we are!"

"Are not!"

"You know what?! Fuck you, Granger!" Draco exclaimed sarcastically. "You're just too bloody stubborn to admit it to yourself. You Gryffindors are just as bad as us Slytherins," he growled. And with that, he walked away.

XXXXX

Hermione tugged at her hair. How _dare _he leave her hanging like this? Godric, how she wished she hated him sometimes. She wanted to, tried to, but she just couldn't. Sure, he could most definitely be an egoistic pure-blood bastard with no life, but in her logical brain, that wasn't a good enough reason to hate him.

She had enough problems to deal with. For one, she had to mend up her broken friendship with Blaise. He hadn't talked to her once in the past week! Once! As much as she hated to admit it, it hurt to see him just walk by her without even acknowledging her presence. She felt so alone. This was almost as bad as the time Harry and Ron stopped talking to her in third year!

Hermione sighed. _Girl time, _Hermione thought to herself reluctantly. At times like these, Ginny was always there for her. Of course, she loved Ron and Harry like brothers and they were her best friends, but being boys, they often didn't understand a lot of her problems.

Wandering through the hallways, tears began to form in her eyes. She stared at the ground as she continued walking. How horribly embarrassing! She began to walk faster before she crashed into someone.

"Oh my! Sorry, I—oh," Hermione stated lamely as she saw who she had run into. Bright blue eyes stared back at her. Of course, of all people, Blaise. More tears watered in her eyes at the sight of him so close. No, she couldn't cry in front of him.

She looked down again. "Right. I'll be leaving now," she mumbled, walking.

A hand roughly grabbed her shoulder, but Hermione didn't look back. She stopped but didn't face him. She couldn't.

His finger slipped under her chin, pushing it up to face him. Brown met blue. "You're crying," Blaise stated bluntly, his thumb wiping away the tears of moisture that had begun to run down her face.

Hermione bit her lip, gazing at him, not sure what to do. Did she run away or apologize? She couldn't hold it in any longer.

Hermione burst into tears as she grabbed Blaise around the neck and hugged him, crying on his chest. "I am so, so sorry!" she cried.

"I know, Mione. I know. And I am too," Blaise replied softly, stroking her hair. He kissed her forehead. Thank Merlin the hallway was empty or Hermione would have died from embarrassment.

"So why were you upset before?" Blaise questioned.

"Huh?"

"Just now, while you were walking down the hallway. Was that because of me?"

"No. Because of everything. My life," Hermione replied, her voice breaking.

"Want to tell me about it?" Blaise asked gently.

"Don't you have a class to go to?"

"I would spend eternity for you, Hermione,"

Hermione sighed. "I love you, you know. As a best friend."

An unknown expression flicked on Blaise's face for a second, but then disappeared as fast as it had come. "Me too, Hermione. Me too," he said slowly.

So Hermione began to tell her tale.

After she finished, Blaise just gaped at her. "Who knew you had so much running through your mind? But what Draco did… I'll talk to him. He was—"

"No," Hermione interrupted.

"Sorry?"

"No. Don't talk to him. I know how to fix this." And with that said, the brunette ran all the way to her room, took out a blank piece of paper and began to write a letter to the prick.

XXXXX

_Malfoy_

_ Meet me at the Room of Requirements on Saturday 7 PM. We need to talk and get some facts straight. Please._

_Hermione_

Reading the piece of paper again for the umpteenth time, Draco made his way to the Room of Requirements. Whatever Granger had to say, it better be good. Not that he had anything else to do.

_I need a private place to talk to Granger, _Draco thought, concentrating on a fixed position on the wall. When nothing happened, Draco sighed and thought _I need a private place to talk to _Hermione _Granger. _A door suddenly appeared in front of him.

As he entered, he saw the room had transformed into a comfy lounge sort of place. There were several couches and tables spread out across the room. On the far left side of the room, Hermione was sitting on a couch, a panicky smile adorning her face.

"Oh you came! Oh thank you so much. I was wondering you might not come and stuff and well, um, sit down," Hermione rambled while gesturing to a couch across from her.

He raised an eyebrow, but did as she suggested. After sitting down, he said, "Okay, spit it out, Granger. What do you want to tell me?"

Hermione fidgeted with her fingers, took a deep breath, and then said, "I'm sorry."

"What?!" Draco asked, confused and surprised.

"I—am—sorry," she said slowly, emphasizing each word.

Draco raised another pale eyebrow up.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I can admit I'm wrong you know. And apologize too."

"Well, isn't that surprising, Mudblood?" Draco asked sarcastically. He said it sarcastically, but truly he was surprised. Who knew?

Hermione glared at him angrily, but kept her mouth shut.

Draco frowned at her. Why wasn't she coming up with another witty remark to challenge his? "Cat got your tongue, Granger?"

"No. I just know better. You were the one that initiated that I was just as prejudiced as you, which I have realized was true. I don't want to be prejudiced, so I'm not going to say anything," Hermione replied.

Draco gaped at her. Coming from Granger, that was pretty deep.

"And I wanted to call in a truce," Hermione added.

"What's the truce?" Draco questioned cautiously.

"That we get along with each other. So we can work together and talk to one another without wanting to kill the other."

When Draco made to response, Hermione begged, "Please at least for the sake of the project."

"Fine," Draco said after awhile. "For the sake of the project."

Hermione smiled. "Thank you. Can we meet here every week this time then? You usually aren't busy are you?"

"You would know, Granger, wouldn't you? After stalking me for weeks," Draco said annoyed.

Hermione blushed. "Right. See you later then."

XXXXX

Days passes as Hermione anticipated her next meeting with Draco. She was really happy with their new found truce. It made her feel accomplished.

"Mione!" a voice called out from behind her.

Turning around, Hermione saw her redhead friend shortly behind her.

"Hey, Ginny!" Hermione replied. "What's up?"

Ginny blushed and turned red in the face.

Curious, Hermione asked, "What happened?"

When Ginny gave her no response, Hermione whined, "Ginny! I thought I was your best friend. Remember, we made that promise to tell each other everything! No secrets, Gin! Tell me!" She stuck out her lower lip and pouted at Ginny.

"Oh come on, Mione! Not the damn adorable pout! Merlin, that will one day become your secret weapon into catching poor, defenseless guys!" Ginny cried exasperatedly. "Alright, I'll tell you what happened, but don't tell anyone," Ginny whispered. "Especially not Ron," she added with an afterthought.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "No duh. Of course I won't tell anyone."

Ginny took a deep breath before blurting out excitedly, "Blaise asked me out. We are officially an item."

**A.N.: So, how was the chapter? I got horrible writer's block at the whole Blaise and Hermione scene. I needed to be just perfect, but I was pretty satisfied with what I came up with. Btw, if a****nyone has any suggestions or ideas for scenes that they might like to include in the story, please leave it in a review. I honestly have no outline for this story so I'm just writing whatever I think of at the moment. I have a vague idea of my story, but i****f anyone would like to suggest anything, please, help me out! Thanks and review! Love you all! :D**


	7. True Hate?

**A.N.: Hello, my dear readers! I know, long time since I last updated. I'm sorry. I won't be having very frequent updates. Probably every month or so. Anyways, enjoy the chapter! :)**

True Hate?

"What?" Hermione asked, totally and utterly shocked.

"Yep," replied Ginny happily. "Blaise and I are together. I was so happy when he asked me out this morning. The funny thing I that Blaise never really acted or looked like he had interest in me, but I guess he was just really good at hiding it!" Ginny said, laughing. She smiled. "I'm just so damn happy, Hermione. Best thing that's happened in a long time." Ginny was so caught up in her own happiness, she failed to notice that Hermione had a large frown on her face.

"I… I got to go, Ginny," Hermione said, looking very distracted.

This time, Ginny noticed and frowned. "Are you alright, Hermione? You're acting strange."

"Me?!" Hermione asked, giving a hysterical laugh. "I'm fine. Absolutely fine," she replied, giving a tight smile before stumbling as she raced to find Blaise.

XXXXX

Hermione raced through the hallways, looking for the familiar face with bright blue eyes that she knew and loved. A million thoughts raced through her head. Why did Blaise ask out Ginny? Why?!

"Omph," Hermione grunted as she crashed into someone and fell down.

"Well, well, well. Now isn't this familiar?" a drawling voice called out from above her.

Hermione didn't need to look up to know who she had crashed into. On most days, Hermione would have been pretty annoyed to have crashed into him, but then again, today was not most days.

"Malfoy!" Hermione called out, relived. "Where's Blaise?"

"What?" he asked, quite surprised. "Well, he told me he was going to the Slytherin dormitories…."

"Really?! Okay, thanks, Malfoy!" Hermione shouted, already dashing to catch up to Blaise.

Draco watched as she dashed down the hallway, bumping and stumbling along the way. Unknowingly, a smile made its way down to his face. Hermione Granger was a surprise alright, first a truce, then a thank you. What next?!

XXXXX

Hermione grabbed Blaise's hand and shoved him into an abandoned classroom.

"Wha-" Blaise began before he promptly stopped before seeing Hermione's face.

She glared at him. "Start talking, Blaise."

"What are you talking about?" Blaise asked, acting profoundly confused.

"Oh come on! Ginny told me! Why did you ask her out?!"

Blaise's face turned as hard as rock. "Why do you care?" he asked coolly.

Hermione gasped. "Because I don't want you to feel like I'm forcing you into this!"

"You're not." He turned away so he wasn't facing her and folded his arms across his chest like a child. "I told you that you aren't forcing me into dating Ginny. That's a decision that I made by myself after getting to know her better through the counseling lessons. I like her," Blaise said stubbornly.

"But… what about that other girl…the one you said you already liked?"

"Oh…well, I think I love her now." From behind him, Blaise heard a gasp, but continued on. "But she will never love me back; at least not in the way I want her to love me back. But Ginny is really sweet and she really likes me. That's why I asked her out."

Hermione felt empathy for Blaise, a whole lot, but she couldn't help but get mad too. "So that's why you asked Ginny out, to heal your own bleeding heart, not cause you actually love her?!" she retorted angrily.

Blaise turned around sharply at her harsh words. "You are so fucking blind, Hermione! So fucking blind and naïve! You are supposedly the brightest witch of our age, but clearly only in studies!"

Hermione flinched as if she had been slapped. His words stung, but she said nothing as he continued shouting.

"I've been lusting over you, Hermione! For the last several months! Whenever I flirted with you or acted differently around you, you never noticed!" he bellowed. "But I don't want to be mad at you. You don't love me the way I want you to and I can't blame you. That's when I first started to notice Ginny. She's really… something. I really like her. So I began to date her, because you would never love me, but maybe Ginny would and then I would fall in love with her," he whispered.

Hermione didn't say anything. She couldn't. She felt so damn guilty, even though the logical side of her told her it wasn't her fault. She just stared at Blaise, wishing the ground would swallow her.

Blaise sighed. "Forget I said anything," he mumbled. He turned around, excited the room, and continued on to his original destination.

XXXXX

Draco thought his life was utterly stupid. Granger and Blaise were ignoring each other. Again! Honestly, they really needed to work on their relationship. Best friends most definitely did not argue that much. And damn it, he still hadn't figured out what happened the first time. Well, at least now he knew what he could interrogate Hermione about at the counseling lesson today.

He had also recently discovered that Blaise and Ginny were most likely dating. They walked around holding hands and staring into each other's eyes all the time. It was disgusting, but Blaise was happier that he had been in a long time. And as long as Blaise was fine, Draco was fine too.

As for Pansy though, she was a completely different story. She would barely talk to Draco anymore and almost always locked herself up in her room. She hadn't really been normal to Draco after the whole "letter to Potter" incident.

Draco inwardly sighed. Truth be told, damn it, he was lonely. And bored. Blaise and Pansy were both occupied and Draco was to proud to go around making new friends or asking the two to spend time with him. As much as he hated to admit it, he _longed_ for some human company. And meeting Granger at the lesson would have to satisfy him.

XXXXX

As much as Hermione enjoyed reading books, there was something unsatisfying about the extent of her already abnormal reading passion. She glanced at the clock in her room for the umpteenth time already. Now if that clock would just tick a little faster, all would be good. She snorted. So this is what her life had become then? Waiting to go meet Draco Malfoy in the Room of Requirements?

_Screw this, _Hermione thought. She didn't care if she was going a bit early. After all, what was wrong with going early?

Walking down to her desired location, she bumped into Harry.

"Oh my! I'm so—Harry?" Hermione questioned, surprised at Harry's appearance.

He was wearing formal clothing and his usual disheveled hair was neatly combed to the side. He looked… well, rather dashing in Hermione's opinion.

"Do you—do you have a date or something?" Hermione asked wide-eyed. Had she been so busy with her life that he hadn't even noticed one of her best friends was dating?

"Um…er…no. Not really," Harry mumbled red in the face. "Just Pansy."

"Just Pansy?! Since when have you two been on a first name basis?"

"Er…since the lessons."

"Oh," Hermione replied stupidly. Had everyone really progressed that far already?

"And well, I'm sort of late, Hermione, so…" Harry said, shifting his glance down the hallway.

Hermione got his hint. "Yes, well…I'll see you around, Harry. Have fun!" Hermione said, but before she even finished, he had left, leaving her alone with only memories to talk to now. This time, Hermione didn't even bother hiding her pained expression behind her supposedly everlasting mask of calmness.

XXXXX

And that was how Draco saw Hermione as she walked into the room: totally and utterly pained. He almost felt guilty for now planning on kicking her down when she was already so low, but he pushed those petty feelings aside, disgusted. He was supposed to be a cold, heartless bastard to everyone besides Pansy, Blaise, and his mother. So he decided to ask away.

"Spill, Granger," Draco commanded.

"What?!" Hermione replied, bewildered at the fact that he had noticed something was bothering her and decided to address it.

Draco rolled his eyes. "You and Blaise. Something's wrong again."

"Oh…um, yeah. Sort of," Hermione replied. Okay, at least Draco had confirmed that part. He was watching over Blaise and had noticed something off with him and pinpointed the problem to her. That made sense.

"So what's wrong?" Draco pestered.

Hermione glared at him. She was having a bad day and she was not going to get this ferret to make it worse.

"Malfoy, shut up, alright?"

"No."

"Why do care, Malfoy?! Since when do you give a damn about my feelings?!" Hermione shouted, annoyed.

Draco snorted. "Is that what you think?" he sneered. I don't care about _you_, I care about Blaise. In fact, I hate you. The only reason I am controlling myself is because of the stupid truce."

Hermione was silent. She looked at him, pain in her eyes. "Do you—do you—do you really _hate_ me?" he whispered after awhile.

Draco was stunned. Why was this such a big deal to her? "Of course. I'm sure the feeling is mutual."

"I don't hate you! How could I ever _hate_ you?!" Hermione replied.

Draco opened his mouth to speak, but shut it. He was so confused. Didn't they _always _hate each other? To his horror, the brunette's eyed began to water up.

"I know you hated me and wanted to me to die and all back then, but still? Didn't the war change _anything_ for you?" Hermione asked in a strained voice.

"I never wanted you to die," Draco stated angrily. "Where did you get that conclusion from?"

"Harry and Ron told me. They used polyjuice in second year to look like Crabbe and Goyle. We thought you might be the heir of Slytherin, so they sneaked in to find out," Hermione explained.

"That was Potter and Weasley?!" Draco asked, half surprised and half amused.

She waved it away. "Yes, but that's not the point. The point is you wanted me dead."

Suddenly, Draco started laughing. Hysterically.

"Are—you—serious, Granger?" Draco managed to ask between fits of laughter.

Somewhere from behind him, Hermione grumbled, "No, I'm Hermione. Sirius was Harry's godfather."

Draco continued laughing. After he had calmed down a bit, he said, "I was twelve. Twelve, Granger. I didn't understand this stuff, I was too young. After I become a Death Eater and after the war, I understood." After a moment he added, "I cannot believe that pestered you for six years."

"Then why do you hate me?"

"Huh?"

"Give me one good reason why you hate me."

"Granger, you're being stupid," Draco said annoyed.

"You don't have an answer," Hermione teased, a smile spreading on her face.

Draco glared at her.

"You still don't have an answer!" Hermione exclaimed again.

"Granger, shut up," Draco grit out between clenched teeth.

"Alright, alright. I'll stop, Draco," Hermione said. "Bye!"

Only after she left did Draco realize that Hermione had used his first name. And it sounded bloody good.

**A.N.: So, how was it? I tried making the whole lesson between Draco and Hermione somewhat realistic. In the end, I suppose it came out alright, but I'm still not completely satisfied with it. Oh well. :( Anyways, I hope my reviewers with questions had them answered in this chapter. **

**What was your favorite part of the story/chapter? Anything you really like or I could improve on? Please tell me! I write to please my readers. I am your humble servant. :)**

**Review please! Love you all! :) Till next time… **


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